Coal breaker and scraper.



1. P. CONSVIDINE.

coAL BREAKER AND SCRAPER.

APPUCATION FILED NOV. 21,1913.

1,138,627, Patented May 11, 1915.

2 SHEETS-SHEET I.

J. P. CONSIDINE.

COAL BREAKER AND SCRAPER.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 21. 1913.

l 1 38,627., Patented May 11, 1915.

u 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2- 1 E77v amwmkw UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOSEPH, P. CONSIDINE, or DETROIT, M1CHIGAN.

COAL BREAKER AND SCRAPER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed November 21, 1913. Serial Noi 802,204.

ing drawings, which form a part of this specification.

This invention relates to coal breakers and scrapers for cars, and has for its ob ect an improved device adapted to make possible the easy and rapid unloading of a car of slack or largely pulverized coal such as is used for the power plants of factories, in

spite of the tendency of such material to harden and cake when at all damp, and particularly in freezing weather.

In the drawings :Figure 1 is a perspective of the device. Fig. 2 is a side elevation, partly in'section, showing the relation of the breaker and scraper to a dump car partly filled with coal. Fig. 3 is a plan View of the drawing or scraper actuating mechanism of the device, being the part located to the right of the centrally rising frame in Fi 1.

1 represents the tracks or supporting beams, whose ends are rested upon the walls or suitable supporting posts of a building,

- adapted to travel therealong on its wheelsv such as a coal storage shed, over the tracks upon which a gondola car 13 1s run, for unloading into a suitable pit or bin. The carriage 14 of the coal breaker or scraper is 15. Rising from about the central portion of the carriage is the frame 16, in which are suspended pulleys 17, over which pass the cables 18, by which the spuds or boring members 19 are suspended. The raising or lowering of the spuds is provided for through the medium of the sheaves 20, over which the cables 18 run. These sheaves are in turn actuated by a motor 22, which is connected It is then driven downwardly and into the mass of coal by the action of the pneumatic hammer 26, which is located within the shell 25 in .such a way that no matter how far down into the pile of coal the spud is driven, none of the finely pulverized coal can work its way into the interior of the spud. Compressed air is admitted to actuate each hammer through the pipe 27. The guide wheels 28, supported from projecting flanges 38 in the frame of the carriage 14, constitute bearings or guide channels in which the casing 25 i is easily raised and lowered with respect to the carriage and to the coal car.

It is generally advisable, especially'if the coal be frozen into a hard mass, to drive the spud in several places before attempting to clear the car of the coal, as this breaks up the caked condition of the mass of coal in several different places, instead of leaving the frozen body of coal perhaps extending the width of the whole car, and forming an arch or damto resist the scraping operation now to be described.

One or both of the spuds 19 having beendriven into the mass of coal as many times and as far as required, the traveling mech anism is now set in operation to effect the movement of the spuds lengthwise ofthe car, so as to drag all of the coal lying in front of it toward the open trap door 13 in the car. This mechanism consists of a motor 29, on whose shaft 30 is located a worm 31, which intermeshes with the gear wheel 32, through whose supporting shaft 33 the actuation of the motor 29 is carried to the gear wheel 31 at each end of the shaft. These in turn intermesh with the rack face 35 on the under sid. of the track members 12, and operate to give a very strong pull upon the carriage lengthwise of the tracks and of the car. In the form shown there are two spuds 19 located side by side, with some little space between them, and of course some of the coal in broken or finely pulverized state will escape between them, and will not be dragged toward the trap door as the device is actuated; but this is generally negligible in amount, and can be easily removed by shovels after the ma n purpose of the device has been fulfilled 1n the loosening and breaking up of the frozen mass of coal and its moving in large masses, too large for shoveling, toward the trap door, where the fall into ,the pit or bin will probably accomplish all further breaking up that Patented May 11, 1915.

may be necessary. It is evident of course that either one or both of such spuds may be used at a time, dependent upon the cond1- tions and circumstances of each car load.

What I claim is 1. A coal breaker and scraper, having, in combination with a supporting trackway, a traveling carriage provided with toothed wheels adapted to engage correspondingly located indentations on said trackway, a boring spud slidably held in vertical position by said carriage, flexible means for supporting said spud at the desired elevation with respect to the carriage, means for causbination with track members, a carriage adapted to travel therealong, means located on said carriage for positively causing its movement in either direction along said track members, spud members slidably engaging in vertical bearings in said carriage, flexible cables for supporting said spud members at desired elevational positions, and flexible means for driving said spud members downwardly through a subjacent mass, said spud members when driven being adapted to be moved thereagainst length wise of the track by the travel of the carriage therealong.

, 3. In a coal breaker and scraper, in combmation with track members, a carriage ble means for transmitting downward actuation to said spud, and means for positively causing the travel of the carriage and consequently ofthe spud member lengthwise of the track members after the driving of the spud member into a subjacent mass has been completed.

4. A coal breaker and scraper, comprising a traveling carriage, spud members flexibly supported therefrom and slidably held in vertical position by hearing portions therof, means for driving said spud members into a subjacent mass without transmission of the resultant impact to the carriage, and means adapted to be brought into action after the drivingof the spuds has been completed whereby the carriage is positively actuated, thereby moving the spud members and with them the mass of coal into which they have been driven, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof, I sign this specification in the presence of two witnesses.

JOSEPH P. CONSIDINE. Witnesses:

R. D. HORNBROOK, WILLIAM M. SWAN. 

